The Darkest Day
by morbid bookworm
Summary: Attention:noun. 1. Notice taken of someone or something; the regarding of someone or something as interesting or important. 2. The action of dealing with or taking special care of someone or something. All Will wants for his birthday is Nico's attention. But how is he supposed to get that when Nico is never there? Especially when his birthday happens to be the Winter Solstice.


**Heh. Look, it's _another_ thing that _isn't _the next chapter of Three Times. **

**But seriously. I wanted to do something for Christmas, right? So I have this adorable idea for a little fic, but then my day-dream mind thinks- _Hmm. Christmas, my birthday, new years, winter solstice. Hey that's the darkest day of the year. Heeey, wouldn't it be funny if an Apollo kid had that day as their birthday? Heeeeeeeeey, Winter Solstice kinda sounds like Will Solace. Isn't that funny?_**

**And my writing mind was like- _MUST. WRITE. SOLANGELO. FIC._  
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**So, yeah. Anyway, we'll see if I have time for that Christmas fic. Probably not. But hey, there's always next year, right? And maybe I'll post the next chapter of TT as a present to you guys. That is, if you don't mind waiting an even longer time for the next chapter.  
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**I think Nico is the kind of person who will totally spoil anyone he really cares about in every possible way. That kept in mind, this is still the first Christmas since the Giant War. So I'm not sure if this is too . . . something.**

**So far this chapter is unbeta'd, because I did not give my beta enough time to correct anything before the solstice today. Because obviously, I'm a nerd and have to post the story about the winter solstice on the winter solstice.**

**Oh, by the way, I don't own shit. But seriously, Will Solace and the Winter Solstice? How funny is that?**

* * *

><p>noun: <strong>attention<strong>

at·ten·tion

əˈten(t)SH(ə)n

_noun_

1. Notice taken of someone or something; the regarding of someone or something as interesting or important.

awareness, notice, observation, heed, regard, scrutiny, surveillance

2. The action of dealing with or taking special care of someone or something.

consideration, contemplation, deliberation, thought, study, observation, scrutiny, investigation, action

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><p>As soon as Will woke up, he knew it was going to be a bad day.<p>

It was partly due to the fact that he woke up very late. His dad was always lazy in the winter, and that day he must have forgotten to set his alarm clock, because both the sun and the Apollo cabin didn't get up until almost nine o clock. By which time almost half the camp had managed to get themselves stabbed, skewered, stung, stupefied, and - in one rare case - contracted smallpox.

It was overcast; the awful, grey, cold-but-not-snowing December kind of day that made Will unfocused and groggy and just generally in a bad mood. It did not help in the slightest that he had to expand a great deal of healing energy on absolutely ridiculously injured people, including one idiot who had actually fallen on his own sword.

And before breakfast, too. Before _coffee_.

And to top off his wonderful morning, he was quite sure his siblings were ignoring him. By the time they had all managed to drag themselves out of bed, none of them had been in any state to mumble more than a gargled greeting, but even after a hearty meal of chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, oranges (still fresh, even in the middle of winter) and a cheese omelet, no one would meet his eye in the infirmary. He had asked Kayla to pass him a scalpel and she had shoved it into his hand, mumbled 'no problem' to his thanks and promptly left the room.

So now Will was sulking. The 'Long Term Stay' wing was a particularly useful room for a long, well deserved session of moping and brooding. He had finished all the more serious injuries, and felt quite justified in taking an hour or so off to feel sorry for himself.

There was one certain bed he found particularly comfortable. A certain son of Hades spent so much time in the infirmary getting patched up that Will had finally covered one of the beds in black sheets and declared it his official, honorary and personal bed. Nico had shaken his head and called him an idiot, but there had been the faintest trace of a smile about his mouth, and that had been enough for Will. Now even the other Apollo kids knew not to use the bed for any other patient.

Will groaned and rested his head on his knees.

Gods. Nico.

He hadn't seen the son of Hades for several days. Nico did that sometimes, just disappeared without a trace and then reappeared just as suddenly, usually injured or faded from whatever job or quest he had been on. It drove Will crazy, and yet he somehow couldn't see Nico settling down to a nice, quiet life at camp. Annabeth had once said something to him about it. Nico had vanished _again_, and Will had been practically tearing his hair out with frustration.

"_It's the same with Percy and Thalia,"_ she had assured him. _"Wanderlust. All the Big Three kids have it. At least, all the Greek ones. They just can't sit still. Thalia has the Hunt and Percy has his quests, but even that's not usually enough to keep him from getting into trouble. Nico's spent the last four years almost completely isolated as a nomad – he isn't going to able to suddenly adjust to living with so many people without any reprieve. Just be patient. He'll come back, he always does. The longest Percy's been gone was eight months; I wouldn't worry too much until then."_

Will had found that both informative and unhelpful. He was perfectly aware that Nico could take care of himself, and would no doubt show up any day now, blood spattered, grass stained and looking quite pleased with himself, but gods, sometimes Will _worried_, and he had thought . . . He had _hoped_ that maybe, just today, Nico would remember and try to come home.

"Will!" Alex pounded on the door. "Get your ass out here. Percy and Jason had a rap battle. It isn't pretty."

Break over. Will would have like to spend the rest of the day sulking in Nico's infirmary bed, but instead he dragged himself up and went to find out how a rap battle ended in three concussions, twelve broken bones and a purple pig.

By the time the sun started to set again it was only four o clock in the afternoon, but Will was more than ready for the day to be over. It had ended up even worse than he had expected – it wasn't just his siblings; the whole camp was avoiding him. He usually tried to make conversation with the people who came through the infirmary, talking to them about the latest capture the flag game or asking after their little brother or girlfriend, but that day his efforts were met with nothing but a few short answers and shifty eyed grunts. Something was going on, and it obviously didn't include him.

Well, two could play at that game.

* * *

><p>Okay, not really.<p>

Will went about an hour without speaking unless it was necessary, but he didn't think anyone noticed. There didn't seem to be anyone around _to_ notice. Some of the kids who went home during the school year would come back for a week or two during Winter Break, but Will had barely seen anyone all day except for his year-rounder siblings and the patients. He would be leaving himself the next day, back to Florida and his mom's house. He had stayed longer than usual to look after everyone in the aftermath of the giant war, and hadn't seen his mom since last June. She would already be annoyed at having to miss today . . .

"Will!" Will jerked out of his reverie as two sets of tiny hands clamped onto his.

"Hey guys." He smiled down at the tiny white-blonde twins Clarence and Clarity. They looked up at him and flashed their pearly white baby teeth at him. There was a matching gap in their smiles, right in the front.

"Hey Will."

"What are you doing-"

"All alone-"

"In the infirmary?"

"Oh, you know." Will ruffled their poufy white heads of dandelion fluff affectionately. At least _someone_ wasn't ignoring him. "Just hanging around in case someone needs a medic. Family reunions can get quite heated."

Clarence and Clarity gazed at him blankly. Their round eyes were the pale, clouded blue of the blind, but they saw more than people realized.

"Are you waiting-"

"For Nico?" They asked.

"What?" Will flushed. Austin and Kayla were one thing, but the twins were only eight! How did they know about-

Will closed his eyes and shook his head. No, he was _not_ going to think that.

"I-I don't know what you could possibly mean," he said. Then he hesitated. "You guys haven't . . . _seen_ him anywhere, have you?"

The twins both tilted their heads consideringly.

"When the party isn't fun anymore-"

"Take a breath of fresh air-"

"In the snow."

_How very helpful,_ Will thought. Out loud he said, "Thanks you guys. I'll keep that in mind."

He made to go back to sorting through patient files, but the twins suddenly got an odd, blank look in their eyes, as if staring off somewhere far away. Then they turned to each other and said solemnly, "It's done."

"Um," Will raised his hand. "Excuse me? What's done?"

The twins shook their heads at him as if disappointed and then tugged impatiently on his hands. When he resisted, they began to drag him towards the door.

"H-Hey! Let go! Guys . . . What are you doing?"

"It's done-"

"It's ready-"

"So we have to bring you there."

"What? Guys, come one! Where are you taking me? Oooh! Cold! Cold!"

Clarence and Clarity hauled their brother outside, not even letting him grab a coat. For a couple of eight year olds they were surprisingly strong, so Will just shut up and let them pull him across the frosty grass towards the Big House, shivering violently in the frozen air.

The twins pushed Will up the porch steps, told him to wait right there and then disappeared inside.

_Brilliant,_ Will thought, stuffing his hands under his armpits and stamping his feet in a futile effort to get warm. He was only wearing rainbow toe socks and sandals, as he had expected to stay in the warm infirmary all day. _Just wonderful._ If he was freezing his ass off just so the twins could show off another snake they had found creeping around the attic, he would not be happy. Will _hated_ snakes. The last one they had found had nearly killed him. He didn't care whether Malcolm had assured him it hadn't been venomous; that thing had had an evil look in its eyes. It had probably on of the great Python's descendents, or possibly even been a pet of Lord Voldemort's.

The twins reappeared in the doorway. Will looked at them warily.

"You may enter," they chorused.

"Finally," Will muttered, and let his siblings lead the way inside.

The Big House was surprisingly dark. There wasn't anybody inside, all the lights were out, and Will kept thinking he heard whispered voices and movement in the shadows. It made him think of Nico, and he didn't like that a scene straight out of a horror movie reminded him of the guy he liked.

Ahead of him Clarence and Clarity suddenly stopped and turned to face him. Will froze. The grey light from outside cast gaunt shadows across the twins faces as they stared at him with dead eyed gazes. Will felt a chill run down his spine, and not just because he was still half frozen from being outside in a tank top and shorts. This was exactly the kind of situation than ended with the handsome blonde protagonist being thrown into a meat grinder. He didn't care what noises he heard behind suspiciously ajar doors; he wasn't anywhere near stupid enough to go and see what it was. In fact, he didn't plan on sticking around long enough to hear anything.

Will started edging towards the door.

"Well," he said awkwardly. Suddenly he didn't really care about snakes, or whatever it was the twins were trying to show him. "I think I'll just be going now. Maybe you can bring whatever it is you got done to the infirmary and show me there . . ."

The twins tilted their heads in eerie synchronicity.

"You aren't going anywhere-"

"Will Solace."

Will blinked. "Okaaaay. That's creepy . . ."

Slowly the twins raised their hands to the ceiling. Will stumbled backwards and his back hit the door. He fumbled around for the doorknob, but suddenly a bright white blinding light filled the room and he had to close his eyes, cringing away as if expecting a blow.

'_Please, PLEASE, Dad,' _he prayed, '_don't let me die here like some slutty heroine in a lame teenage horror story! I promise I'll burn a whole Christmas ham for you, with gravy and everything. Just get me out of this!'_

After the stars had faded from behind his eyelids and a few minutes of dead silence, Will dared to crack one eye open.

"SURPRISE!" everyone shouted, so loudly that both of Will's eyes popped open and he would have fallen over if he hadn't been leaning against the door.

"What the Hades . . ?"

The front room of the Big House was now full of people and colored lights. The ceiling was strung with fluttering streamers and sparkling confetti rained down on everything. Tabled were laden with food and a giant cake was being wheeled in by a pair of grinning Stoll's.

"Happy birthday, Will!" The entire Apollo cabin crowded around Will, beaming like a constellation of miniature suns and giving him congratulatory slaps on the back and kisses on the cheek.

"You guys are assholes!" Will cried, but he was laughing. His horrible day suddenly made sense.

"Hey, anything for our head councilor's birthday," Austin exclaimed.

"Even if he does happen to also be our annoying little brother," Kayla added, giving Will a big hug.

Clarence and Clarity both wrapped their arms around his waist and looked up at him with big blue eyes. "Did we do good, Will?"

"Yes, you did very good, you little play actors," Will laughed, scooping them up and spinning them around. "You guys completely freaked me out!"

"Good to know our efforts weren't wasted," a new voice said. Will set the twins down and looked around to see Rachel grinning at him. Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Leo and Calypso stood behind her. In fact, Will realized that it wasn't just his cabin there: the whole camp had come to join the party. The Stoll's were sneaking handfuls of cake, Malcolm and Mitchell were organizing presents, Cecil and Lou Ellen were trying to get Miranda to dance with them awkwardly in a corner, and even Clarisse was exclaiming loudly to Chris that she was 'only there to keep an eye on the kid!'. The Kid being little Chuck, who Coach Hedge and Mellie had brought along to see Will.

(Will thanked them for coming and politely declined any chance to hold the tiny satyr. Maybe someday, when Chuck was older and looked less like the pink and brown loaf Will had had to pull out of Mellie's unfortunate oven. But until then, he was keeping a safe distance.)

"Come on, Will!" His siblings swarmed around him and dragged him to the middle of the room for a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday, which then prompted another song, and then another, until most of the Apollo cabin had their instruments out and were preparing for a full on music battle. Everyone else started dancing, talking, or eating around the significant missing chunks of chocolate cake.

Will just laughed, feeling happier than he could have believed.

* * *

><p>"So, are you enjoying the party?"<p>

"You have no idea." Will beamed at Percy, Annabeth and Jason, and slid onto a nearby stool, faintly out of breath from being spun from sibling to sibling on the dance floor. Percy was slouched in a weird half-egg shaped seat, with Annabeth sitting sideways on his lap as if it were a particularly comfortable armchair, while Jason lay sprawled across a couch.

"Yeah, it tuned out really well," Jason said, watching idly as Piper danced with Leo and Calypso. Leo was demonstrating an odd mash up of swing dancing and hip hop he had no doubt made up on the spot. "Your cabin really outdid itself. Good thing Nico mentioned it, or we wouldn't have been invited."

The words reached Will's ears, but they slipped through his mind ungrasped and he didn't process them. "What?"

Jason looked at him in surprise. "You didn't know? Nico was the one who told us it was your birthday. He was in on it with your siblings." He frowned. "It's funny he isn't here. Come to think of it, I haven't seen him for a while. I would have thought after all that work . . ."

Percy gave a little half groan and pressed his face against Annabeth's shoulder. "I don't think he's coming."

Jason's brow furrowed. "Why in Hades not?"

Percy just winced and shook his head miserably, so Annabeth spoke up instead. "Today's just not a good day for him."

"What's that supposed mean?" Jason asked. He turned to Will for support. "Come on Will, back me up here! They can't just say cryptic stuff like than and not explain!"

Will didn't respond. The room was tilting alarmingly and Jason's face swam in and out of his line of vision, his expression quickly morphing from annoyance to concern.

"Hey man, are you all right?"

"What? 'Course, 'm fine . . ." Will mumbled, sliding off the stool. He lurched dizzily and pressed a hand to his hand. "Just gotta go . . ."

Not bothering to try and finish the half-formed excuse, he stumbled away and was swallowed by the crowd, ignoring the worried questions thrown at his back.

_Nico._

_Nico had known, but he wasn't coming._

_Nico had known and helped and planned, but he still wasn't coming._

The room was suddenly too heated, the music too loud. Warm, sweaty bodies were pressing on him from all sides, choking off his air with hot breath and strange perfumes and thundering voices. The music pounded into his skull, and the lights flashed and danced in the corners of his eyes, making him feel queasy.

"Hey Will-Will, where are you going?" Cecil latched onto his arm and tried to pull him back into the middle of the hot, sticky, swaying throng.

"Air," Will muttered, dislodging his friend's hand and trying to push against the crowd towards the door. "Just need a moment. Be right back."

Will burst through the front door onto the Big House porch and was immediately hit with an icy blast. He clutched the railing and gasped as if just surfacing from a dive, taking in the cold air with greedy gulps. After a moment or two his breathing evened out; puffs of white steam escaping from his mouth.

He stood there for a minute, resting his forearms on the rickety old railing, taking deep breaths and letting the crisp winter air clear his head. Above him the sky was already dark and starless, even though it was barely evening.

_Well, the twins were wrong about one thing,_ he though wearily._ It isn't snowing._

"Will? Are you okay?"

And there he was. Leaning back against the railing a few feet away. Scuffed up combat boots. Long black sweatpants. Hands stuck deep in the pockets of a soft, worn looking hoodie that hung awkwardly off his thin frame. Short black-iron sword, forever hanging at his side. Silver skull ring wrapped around his finger. Dark, heavy lidded eyes, deep set in shadowed circles, always seeing more than anyone else ever did. Pale, sunken cheeks. Feathery dark hair sticking up in tufts and brushing the tips of his ears.

"Nico," Will said blankly. "You came."

"Um, yeah," said Nico, blinking. "I mean, I was playing pinochle with Mr. D and Chiron, but they got sick of losing and Mr. D wanted to go inside. God of parties, and all that."

"No, I mean I thought . . ." Will trailed off. It was hard to focus, what with Nico practically appearing out of thin air like one of his ghosts. What had he been thinking again?

Nico tilted his head curiously.

"Did you think I would forget?"

"Umm . . ." Will flushed and didn't answer. Well really, why would he expect Nico to remember something like this? Will had only mentioned his birthday once in passing, hoping it would prompt Nico to tell him his own. Of course, Nico had done no such thing, and the conversation had ended with Will feeling more than a little let down.

" . . . Did you?" asked Will finally. He crossed his arms protectively across his chest against the cold and looked down, scuffing his sandal on the weathered grey wood porch. "Did you forget?"

"A child of the sun born on the darkest day of the year?" Nico said. "How could I forget that?"

Will looked up in surprise. To his amazement, Nico was smiling at him softly. It was giving Will heartburn and he never wanted it to stop. Too late, Will realized there was a brilliant smile already pulling at his own mouth. Unable to stop, he just grinned abashedly.

"Yeah," he laughed breathlessly. "Weird, right?" _Then again, I've always liked the dark._

Nico tilted his head back lazily and half-smiled at the dark sky. "Will Solace and the Winter Solstice. There's a pun in there somewhere, but I don't care to find it."

"Gods, don't remind me," Will muttered. "I think my dad planned that so he could use it in a haiku."

Nico actually gave a little laugh. "Probably."

They fell into a comfortable silence, with Nico staring up at the sky and Will trying to pretend he wasn't beginning to freeze. He shifted awkwardly and cast around for something else to say to distract himself from his numbing fingers and toes. Fortunately, there were plenty of topics to choose from.

"Jason said you planned this," he said, watching Nico carefully for his reaction. "The party, I mean."

Nico's smile slipped and he looked back at the ground. "Jason has a big mouth. I didn't do anything, just spread the word. Your siblings practically begged me for help. I know Apollo kids like being the center of attention, so I figured . . ." He waved his hand in a vague gesture to euphemize the party.

"I like your attention!" Will blurted, and then promptly slapped a hand over his mouth, flushing.

"I mean . . ." he tried to explain, "If I had to choose between everyone's attention and your attention, I'd . . . choose you . . ." _Because gold is made valuable by its rarity, and your attention is like the city of El Dorado. You can't see it, but every look or touch or word, anything that might mean you like me even a little bit more than everyone else is like a precious metal that I worry over and over to keep shiny. I'm a selfish, selfish person, and your attention is everything I crave. But I'm always terribly afraid of making the wrong move and sending you running far away. If your attention is a drug, I don't think I would survive withdrawal. _

But he couldn't say that. Instead he stared at the ground, cheeks burning as he prayed for a benevolent god to just strike him where he stood before he embarrassed himself further.

"If I had to choose between being alone and your attention, I'd choose you."

Will looked up. Nico was staring at him evenly, but Will thought he looked a little flushed too, and not just from the cold.

Will felt something hot and fizzy drop into his stomach, warming him from his poor, frozen, rainbow socked toes to the tips of his ears and nose. Without thinking he took a few steps forward. There only a couple feet left between them, but Nico didn't move away. He just watched lazily as Will took another step towards him, effectively closing the paltry distance.

Waiting for him.

A sudden gust of icy wind blew through the camp, seeping under Will's clothes and settling in his bone marrow, sending shivers wracking throughout his body.

Nico's eyes widened. "Are you cold?"

"_Yes_," Will groaned, hugging himself tighter as his knees knocked and his teeth chattered. "Aren't you?"

Nico shrugged. "Not really."

Will took a final step forward and then stopped. They were toe to toe, Will's colorful toe socks and sandals just brushing the tips of Nico's black combat boots. For second both boys looked down at their feet, silently marveling at the strange closeness.

Will was the first to look back up at Nico's face. His gaze traced the dark fall of his hair, the low bridge of his nose and finally fell on is mouth. His lips were dry and cracked, dark and faintly blue.

Nico raised his head to meet Will's eyes and was surprised at the fierce expression on his face.

"Give me your hands," Will demanded. Nico tilted his head curiously.

"Why?"

"Because I think you're about to get frostbite," Will said. "Come on. Hand them over." He held out his own palms pointedly.

Nico gently placed his hands in Will's. Will's fingers closed tightly around them as he held them up to his face for inspection, muttering medical drivel under his breath as he examined the blue tint to his nails, the faint tremor, the numbed skin that felt cold even to Will's chilled nerves.

"You don't feel cold at all?" he asked worriedly.

Nico shook his head. "It's okay though. I'm used to it."

Will's mouth twisted like he had bitten into a lemon. "You shouldn't have to be used to it." He lowered their hands, but didn't let go, instead entwining their fingers and letting their joined hands hang at their sides between them. The cold metal of Nico's ring pressed against his palm.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" he asked. "Why aren't you inside, where it's warm?"

"Oh, you know," Nico lowered his head, letting his hair fall across his face so Will couldn't see his expression. "Parties are not exactly my scene."

Will clutched his hands tighter and frowned. "That doesn't explain why you're out here in the cold. You could have gone to your cabin, or the infirmary. I don't believe you came out here just to freeze while playing pinochle with Chiron and Mr. D."

Nico's shoulders slumped and his grip on Will's hands loosened. There was something wrong; Will could feel the negative emotions swirling around Nico's small body, but he seemed to be warring with himself, unable to decide whether to tell or just pretend it was nothing.

Will felt his heart sink dejectedly into his stomach. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me any-"

"Yesterday was the anniversary of Bianca's death," Nico said flatly. "Today is when Percy told me. I'd already kind of sensed when it happened, but I'd hoped . . . I was so mad . . ."

Oh. _Oh_. Will's heart wasn't in his stomach anymore. It had somehow gotten itself speared onto one of his ribs and was hurting quite a lot and bleeding all over the place.

"I'm sorry," he whispered sadly, hanging his head and feeling his eyes burn with tears. He felt like absolute crap. He had never liked his birthday, and now it seemed like the fates were trying to prove to him exactly how miserable a day it was. Will sniffed despondently, a single tear falling and freezing almost instantly on his skin. He froze as Nico raised their clasped hands to brush at his wet cheek.

"Hey," Nico murmured. "Why are you crying?"

"I don't know," Will said shakily. "Maybe because you aren't?" He pressed their hands together to his cheek and raised his head to meet Nico's dark eyes, bright with unshed tears.

"I'm sorry," Will said again. "How stupid is it that I was born on such an awful day? Gods, it feels so wrong to celebrate now that I know-"

Nico moved their hands to cover his mouth. "Shut up Solace. I'm glad."

Will stared at him in bewilderment. To his continued astonishment, Nico was wearing the faintest of smiles. "What? Why would you be glad about that?"

Nico dropped their hands back to their sides and shrugged again. "I'm not sure. Maybe . . . maybe I'm just glad somebody's happy today. Maybe I'm glad today is known as something besides 'that time when I put that crack in the Dining Pavilion because I was pissed my sister was dead'."

"Oh my gods," Will choked. "That was you? I walked past that thing for four years but I never knew what it was from!"

"Ah, well." Nico smiled dryly. "I was in a mood."

"No kidding," Will muttered. He closed his eyes and leaned forward, pressing his forehead to Nico's. White clouds of breath streamed from their mouths, mingling in the air between them. Will felt his every nerve tingle with anxiety, but Nico made no move to back away, and after a minute he dared open his eyes and peek over at him. Nico was watching him with amusement glittering in his dark eyes.

"Happy Birthday, Will," he whispered, gently knocking their foreheads together.

Will felt hot syrup replace his blood, warming him with delicious sweetness from his frozen fingers to his deadened toes. He could have stayed like that forever, with Nico, wrapped up in their intimate bubble of strange warmth, but the gods had other plans.

"Look," Nico said suddenly, leaning back and gazing up at the sky. Will felt cold at the sudden loss, but looked up obediently. For a moment he didn't see anything but dark cloudy sky, and then something icy touched his nose very briefly and dissolved.

"It's snowing!" he said, elated. Fluffy clusters of tiny snowflakes drifted down and settled on the frozen ground, catching on the frosty dead grass and in Nico's dark hair.

Nico grinned at his childish delight. "I told you I beat Mr. D at pinochle, didn't I?"

In that moment, Will could have kissed him. He certainly thought about it. He definitely wanted to. He wanted to lean forward the last five inches and press his mouth to Nico's cold blue lips. The feeling of _wanting_ fizzed up inside him until he thought he might burst.

Nico watched him with raised eyebrows. It was like he was waiting for Will to make a move. Will was so close to doing it, so close to giving in, _so close_ . . .

"HEY GUYS! STOP FLIRTING AND GET YOUR ASSES IN HERE SO WE CAN PAAAAR-TEEEEY!" Leo bellowed. Will whipped around and Nico peered around him to see the crazy Latino poking his head out of the window and grinning at them with a knowing look.

"Go away, Valdez!" Will yelled at him. Leo gave him a look of mock hurt and disappeared.

"Sorry," Will blurted, turning back to Nico. "He's um . . ."

"Don't worry about it," Nico said, looking down at his feet. He gently retracted his hands from Will's and stuffed them into his pockets. Will felt a familiar disappointment settle in his heart.

"Come on," Nico said, brushing past Will and heading towards the door. "We should get inside before they send out a search party for the birthday boy."

"Yeah," Will whispered regretfully. He was about to turn around and follow, but suddenly Nico grabbed his wrist tightly and was pulling Will along behind him.

"Come _on_," he said, not quite looking at Will. "I won't make you choose tonight."

Will looked down at the cold hand holding his wrist and felt heat flood throughout his entire body.

As soon as Will woke up, he knew it was going to be a bad day.

Then again, Nico always had a way of proving him wrong.

_Maybe for now . . . this is all the attention I need._

* * *

><p><strong>Gah. That was just sickeningly cute and fluffy. Review please!<strong>


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